Hi. I'm in Japan and teaching about 25 students ranging from 12 to 13 years old. Looking for penpals. Sorry can't do email. They love to write and would like to get started as soon as possible. Thanks.

Have you finally found any penpals? I'm a teacher of English in Poland and I'm looking for some penpals for my students. They're at the age of 13 - 15 and they want to learn English (some of them ). So, if you're still interested in an exchange of letters, write back!

Hello, dear colleagues !
It`s too helpful and useful for each student who learn any of foregn languiages, I know it from my own experience.
My students have been corresponing to americans for almost over ten years and it is clear that americans don`t keep a long correspondence or don`t answer at all.
It would be better for my students to make friends and pen-palling in English with others for whom the English is the second or the third one. It`s always interesting and exciting for both sides.
We have being installed the Internet at our school this year only and we are all too excited to work in it including me, I am 51 though.
So, who will be the first ?
Something about me:
I am from Russian Eastern Siberia and our land is called the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia which is situated in the North. Our first tongue is Yakut, the second is Russian, then we study English and French at schools.
My students are of the age of 11-17 and there are eight-ten in each grades 5-6-7-8-9-10-11. My senoirs could do E-mail pev-palling but my juniors could only write some easier texts, they are beginners. We could post by a snail-mail but it will be too long, almost a half of a year in our country. I offer to start with the E-mail for the first time.
Well, it was for information.
I am looking forward to your so welcomed responces,
Victor Kirillin.

Hello! I have about 90 Japanese kids who are studying English as a second language. They are 13/14 years old and have studied English for 2 years. We are in the process of videotaping their self introductions and I thought it would be great if we could exchange them with other ESL students elsewhere in the world. Very motivating! I can easily burn a CD of the self-intros and include their written formats as well, but the most important part (The exchange partners) is missing! If you could help us out, please reply! Victor, if you are still looking, would it be possible for us to send you the intros through cyberspace or snail mail, and then get emailed responses? I know the postal system here in Japan is very quick, but you make yours sound very VERY slow!
Vicki-sensei

Hello. If you still need I could offer you some new pen pals from Poland. I remember I started writing with a girls from *beep* in my teens. You will have to wait a little bit as we have summer holidays at school in Poland and start again on September 1st.

I think this is most effective with each penpal's target language being the native language of the one he or she is communicating with. Ideally, for example, a Spanish speaker learning English from Spain would be communicating with an American learning Spanish speaker from America. If the native English speaker has nothing to gain from the correspondence (i.e. he or she does not want to learn any languages), then there isn't going to be much motivation to continue the correspondence.

If each is reading his or her native language, and communicating in the target language, then this becomes a communicative exercise which benefits both parties, because they can correct each other for the sake of understanding, perhaps grammar if they are so inclined.

The problem is, at least in my country (the U.S.), no one wants to learn another language. So this might not work out so well.

Right now, I'm working in the public schools in the country of Georgia. I doubt any foreigners had a desire to learn this language. But, if anyone wants to do the pen pal thing (with English as a foreign language for both parties), I'm up for trying it with my students.[/i]